Women’s Golf Finishes First Round at NCAA Championships

CARLSBAD, Calif. – University of Houston Women's Golf senior Moa Svedenskiöld stood in a tie for 24^th place with a 1-under 71 to lead the Cougars following the First Round of the NCAA Championships on the North Course at Omni La Costa Resort & Spa on Friday.

As a team, #29 Houston posted a score of 290 and stood in 20^th place on the 6,271-yard, par-72 course.

Svedenskiöld ran into trouble from the start with a bogey on her first hole at No. 10. Fortunately, she rallied quickly with a birdie at No. 11 to return to even par and moved into red numbers with a birdie on the par-4, 14^th hole.

After four straight pars to cap her first nine, the Helsingborg, Sweden, native opened her second nine with another birdie at No. 1 and drained eight straight pars before enduring her final bogey on her final hole.

With her total, Svedenskiöld joined Kennedy Swedick (Virginia), Alexandra Gazzoli (Florida State), Cindy Hsu (Texas), Kyra Ly (Oregon State), Reagan Zibilski (Arkansas), Kelly Xu (Stanford) and Elsa Svensson (LSU) in a tie for 24th.

She is making her second straight appearance at the NCAA Championships after emerging as the individual qualifier from the NCAA Columbus Regional in 2025.

Junior Maelynn Kim and sophomore Emilia Väistö each posted 73s Friday and were tied for 60^th. Senior Natalie Saint Germain was tied for 122^nd at 77 while senior Alexa Saldaña was tied for 150^th at 80.

Team Leaderboard, NCAA Championships First Round, Page 2

Team Leaderboard, NCAA Championships First Round, Page 2

#2 (2 seed) USC held the First-Round team lead at 291 to finish one stroke ahead of #1 (1) Stanford. #21 (16) Oklahoma State (283), #17 (13) Iowa State (284), #27 (21) Eastern Michigan (286), #7 (7) Arkansas, #32 (24) Missouri (287), #16 (12) SMU (288), #34 (26) LSU (288) and #5 (5) Texas (288) rounded out the Top 10.

Stanford's Megha Ganne and Ellie Bushnell of Oklahoma State were tied for the individual lead with 68s. Farah O'Keefe (Texas), Karisa Chul-Ak-Sorn (Iowa State)m Elaine Widjaja (Florida), Thanana Kotchasanmanee (Princeton), Ashley Yung (Northwestern), Yurang Li (Baylor), Beth Coulter (Arizona State), Kajsalotta Svarvar (Mississippi), Kirstin Angosta (TCU) and Kyran Van Kan (Tennessee) were tied for third at 69.

The Second Round tees off at 8:30 a.m. (CDT) Saturday. The Cougars begin their day at 2:45 p.m. (CDT), Saturday.

The Cougars earned their first trip as a team to the NCAA Championships after finishing second at the NCAA Simpsonville Regional at Louisville Golf Club on May 11-13. Houston posted a team-score of 11-under 853, including a school-record-low 275 in NCAA Regional play in the Second Round, to punch their ticket to the nation's premier collegiate event.

FORMAT
All schools will play 18 holes each day through Sunday. Following the first three rounds, the Top-15 teams and Top-Nine individuals not on a qualifying team advance to the Final Round of stroke play.

The top individual following the Final Round of stroke play will be crowned the NCAA individual national champion.

The Top-Eight teams following the Final Round of stroke play advance to match play. The Match Play Quarterfinals and Semifinals will be held Tuesday, May 26 with the National Championship match beginning in the afternoon on Wednesday, May 27.

LIVE SCORING
Fans can follow live scoring at the Championships by clicking here.

TUNE IN
Fans can watch coverage of the NCAA Championships first three rounds of stroke play as well as pre-linear during the final round of stroke play and the Quarterfinal round of match play prior to Golf Channel's televised broadcasts.

All Babygrande-produced coverage can be found on BabygrandeGolf.com and will be simulcast across Golf Channel digital platforms. A subscription fee may be required.

Golf Channel is the exclusive television home of the NCAA Championships. Live broadcasts of the Final Round of stroke play begins Monday with coverage of all three match-play rounds on Tuesday and Wednesday. A subscription to Golf Channel may be required to view the live stream.

TEE TIMES
For Saturday's Second Round, the Cougars will compete in groups with student-athletes from Northwestern and Missouri with a split-tee start.

Saldaña begins the day off No. 1 at 2:45 p.m. (CDT) with Saint Germain (2:56 p.m. CDT), Kim (3:07 p.m. CDT), Väistö (3:18 p.m. CDT) and Svedenskiöld (3:29 p.m. CDT) following.

Fans can find complete NCAA Championships tee times and pairings by clicking here.

HOUSTON in NCAA CHAMPIONSHIPS HISTORY
While this is the first time that Houston will compete as a team at the NCAA Championships, it's not the first time Houston has been represented at the nation's top collegiate tournament.

Svedenskiöld qualified as an individual from the NCAA Columbus Regional a year ago and will make her second appearance. All-American Karen Fredgaard tied for 28^th as an individual at the 2021 NCAA Championships at Grayhawk Golf Club in Scottsdale, Ariz., and became the first Cougar to compete in all four rounds of stroke play.

All-American Leonie Harm was the first Cougar to compete in multiple NCAA Championships, qualifying for the 2018 and 2016 events.

SUPPORT YOUR COOGS
Fans can make a direct impact on the success of Houston Women's Golf by providing NIL opportunities and by joining the P.A.R. 4 Club, which provides financial support directly to Houston Women's Golf for needs beyond its operating budget.

STAY CONNECTED
Fans can receive updates by following @UHCougarWGolf on X and catch up with the latest news and notes on the team by clicking LIKE on the team's Facebook page at UHCougarWGolf or on the team's Instagram page at UHCougarWGolf.

– UHCougars.com –

Upcoming Events

Recent Results